1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to apparatus for disposing of sludge, garbage and the like by burning to produce a sanitized waste char for disposal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is a continuing problem in how to effectively dispose of sludge, garbage and similar waste materials in other than by land fill disposal. The present approaches appear to employ expensive and sometimes inefficient fluid bed combustors. The known prior art is limited in its teaching, and is directed to expensive solutions which touch on only portions of the present problems. It has been recognized that waste material is often contaminated with toxic chemicals of several different types, the most potent being polychlorinated bipharyls (PCB) which create long range hazards. Thermal decomposition of such toxic waste has been tried at great cost.
Attempts have been made to dispose of sludge, which is very wet, by first drying the moisture from the sludge and then conveying it into combustion equipment where outside fuel is used in large quantities in order to sufficiently dry the sludge to a condition where it can be carted away to a land fill location, or be otherwise disposed of. Examples of prior art apparatus for waste disposal include: U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,477, date June 10, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,944 date Sep. 2, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,838, date Dec. 16, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,637, date Mar. 3, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,251, date Jun. 9, 1987; U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,220, date Aug. 11, 1987; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,721 date Oct. 13, 1987.